I've got another one-pan dinner for you. Yup. All goes in one pan. No muss. No fuss. One pan = fewer dishes and this one is easy to throw together too. Chicken, sauerkraut and sausage is a flavor bomb and is sure to become a regular in your dinner rotation.
Chicken, Sauerkraut and Sausage: Start with the Marinade
The marinade for the chicken thighs might look familiar to some of you and that is because I used it in my awesome dijon chicken thighs with apples, leeks & fennel. It is the perfect slathery marinade for chicken thighs. Now we're just changing the rest of the flavor profile by adding Italian sausage, onion and tangy sauerkraut.
I usually prepare the marinade the night before. Then I get the fat trimmed from my chicken thighs and mix it with the marinade. I recently made a great video tutorial about how to trim the fat from chicken thighs. If you need guidance with this, check it out.
You should marinate the chicken for 3-4 hours to overnight. I usually do overnight. After the chicken sits in the fridge overnight, everything goes in an oven-safe pan (or baking dish) and then in the oven. I am someone that loves a good marinade for my chicken. If I have to do dinner prep the day before, I don't mind. It makes dinner the next night even easier.
What is Sauerkraut?
So sauerkraut. I would like to confess that I had never actually tried sauerkraut before making this recipe. This is a "true story" as my Uncle Buck used to say. Yet how can that be true? I am a food person. A home chef. Someone who has eaten many types of food in life. Just. Not. Sauerkraut.
Sauerkraut is cabbage and salt locked in a jar together for about six weeks. The salt draws out the water from the cabbage and essentially creates its own brine. This is like the way kimchi is made except sauerkraut has it roots in Germany and is not spicy. Whereas kimchi is a South Korean delight with a spicy kick - a beyond spicy kick in some cases.
Sauerkraut has a wonderful salt and sour and tanginess that pairs very well with the dijony, garlicky flavor from the chicken and the savory Italian sausage. It's a mouthful of joy.
Easy Steps to Make Chicken, Sauerkraut and Sausage:
Are You Looking for More Chicken Recipes? I Gotcha Covered:
- Dijon Chicken Thighs with Apples Leeks & Fennel
- Cardamom Chicken Thighs w/Coconut Raisin Rice
- Rosemary Balsamic Grilled Chicken Thighs
- Grilled Chimichurri Chicken Thighs
- Crispy Brick Chicken w/Pan Sauce and Veggies
- Sheet Pan Drumsticks w/Roasted Carrots & Cumin Potatoes
- Crispy Chicken Thighs w/Honey Butter Garlic Sauce
Chicken, Sauerkraut and Sausage
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 6 portions 1x
Description
Got a one-pan flavor bomb dinner for you: chicken, sauerkraut and sausage. This one’s an absolute gourmet and easy to make.
Ingredients
For the marinade:
- 2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, finely chopped (see note#1)
- 2 tablespoons garlic, finely diced (4-5 cloves depending on size)
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar (or white vinegar if that’s what you have)
- 3 tablespoons dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
For the chicken:
- 6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 medium onion, chopped into small chunks
- 1 2-pound bag of sauerkraut, drained of liquid (see note#2)
- 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- 6-8 mild Italian sausages (see note#3)
Optional:
- Chopped parsley garnish
NOTE: Cook and prep times do not include the marinade time which is 3 hours to overnight.
Instructions
- Start with the marinade: finely dice the rosemary and garlic. Add to a small bowl along with olive oil, apple cider vinegar (or regular white vinegar), dijon mustard, brown sugar and pepper. Whisk together until well combined and set aside.
- Time to trim the fat from the chicken thighs. You’ll need kitchen shears for this. Take a few minutes to trim the fat around the edges and underneath too. If you need further assistance you can watch my fat trimming tutorial.
- Once the chicken is trimmed, salt and pepper both side of the chicken. ¾ to 1 teaspoon of salt total is enough for both sides. For the pepper, should be about ¼ to ½ teaspoon. I usually let the chicken thighs sit for 5-10 minutes here, but this is optional. Chicken should be in a large bowl.
- Add the marinade to the bowl and mix well until the marinade is covering all the chicken pieces.
- Transfer the chicken to a one-gallon slider bag and don't forget to scrape all the marinade from the bowl into the bag. You can also put plastic wrap over the bowl and put it in the fridge. I never have room for that so a bag works better. Marinate the chicken for 3 hours to overnight.
- Once you’re ready to cook the chicken, preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
- Chop one medium onion into small chunks. My video shows this well.
- Time to drain the liquid from the bag of sauerkraut. Place a colander over a large bowl and pour the sauerkraut into the colander. Press down on the sauerkraut to squeeze the most liquid out. Discard the liquid once it’s totally drained.
- Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to a large oven-safe pan or 9x13 baking dish. Spread it over the bottom of pan with a pastry brush or spatula.
- Add the sauerkraut to the bottom of the pan and spread out evenly.
- Add the chopped onion on top of the sauerkraut and spread out evenly.
- Place the chicken pieces on top of the onion. Take a moment to wipe any garlic you see from the chicken skin and push it down into the pan. The garlic may burn if you leave it on the skin.
- Take your Italian sausage and nestle them alongside the chicken pieces. You want them fitting snugly between the chicken.
- Add the fresh chopped rosemary to the top of the chicken.
- Bake in preheated oven at 400 degrees for one hour.
- You can serve it right out of the pan or baking dish if you’d like. I put the sauerkraut and onions on a platter and placed the chicken and sausage on top. Then I garnished with fresh chopped parsley and rosemary sprigs.
- This also tastes great with basmati rice on the side.
Notes
- You’ll need three teaspoons total of fresh chopped rosemary. Two teaspoons for the marinade and one more teaspoon to sprinkle on the chicken before it goes in the oven. When you’re prepping you can chop it all at the same time and set aside what’s needed for when you cook the chicken.
- For the sauerkraut, I used a brand called Silver Floss. It was in the refrigerated section at the grocery store near the hot dogs and bacon area.
- Italian sausages are sold in packages of 6 or 8 at my grocery store. They only had the 8-pack when I shopped for this recipe so I used all of them. So it’s up to you. You can use 6-8. More than that probably won’t fit in the pan or baking dish.
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